Car-starter.



No 788,560. PATENTED MAY 2, 1905.

S. SMITH, Jn.'& G. S. GRIFFIN.

GAR STARTER.

APPLIOATION rum) MAY 6. 1904.

' UNITED STATES Patented May 2, 1905.

PATENT OFFICE.

STEPHEN SMITH, J R., AND GEORGE S. GRIFFIN, OF HORSEOREEK, ALABAMA.

CAR-STARTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 788,560, dated May 2,1905.

' A uman fil d May 6, 190 1. Serial No. 206,674.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, STEPHEN SMITH, J r.,

and GEORGE S. GRIFFIN, citizens of the United States, residing atHorsecreek, in the county of Walker and State of Alabama, have inventednew and useful Improvements in Car- Starters, of which the following isa specification.

Our invention relates to an improvement in car-starters, and comprises adevice which is simple and comparatively inexpensive and which acts witha maximum leverage in either pushing or pulling the car.

More particularly our invention comprises a car-starter having a hook orbrace adapted to engage the car-axle and a lever having a flangedbeveled head pivotally secured to the hook and adapted to engage theflange of the wheel, preferably at a point in the plane of the axlewhere the greatest leverage may be exerted. According to constructionsnow in use the leverage is applied to the wheel from the track and at apoint nearly under its center, so that it is necessary to expend a largepart of force used to move the car in lifting dead-weight. In fact, itis almost necessary to lift the car in cases where it is ,difficult tostart it moving.

Our invention comprises a further important improvement over thesedevices which apply the leverage from the track, since it is equallyapplicable to push or to pull the car. To enable the other devices to beused in this manner, it is-necessary to go from one end to the other ofthe car to successfully use the lever when it becomes necessary to shiftthe car backward or forward, whereas in applying our invention it isonly necessary to reverse the manner in which the hook engages the axle,cause the beveled face of the lever to engage the wheel, and by pressingdownward on the lever the car can be moved toward you equally as well asit can be moved from you when the device is reversed.

Our invention further comprises the construction and arrangement ofparts hereinafter described, and more particularly set forth in theclaim, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure1 shows our improved car-starter in elevation as applied to a wheel formoving it from you. Fig. 2 is a top plan view of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is anenlarged sectional viewillustrating the configuration of the lever-headand the manner in which it engages the rim of the wheel. Fig. 4 is anenlarged detail view of the lever-head. Fig. 5 is a similar view to Fig.1, illustrating our device applied for moving the car toward you.

Similar reference-numerals refer to similar parts throughout the severalfigures of the drawings.

Our invention comprises a hook or brace 1 adapted to be passed over anaxle 2 at a point adjacent to the wheel 3. This hook engages the axle ina manner to give a firm connection thereto for the arm 4:, which isslightly greater in length than the radius of the wheel, so that thisend extends to a point slightlybeyond the flange 5 of the wheel 3. Atthis point the head 6 of the lever 7 is pivotally secured to the arm 4by a bolt 8 passing through both parts and securing them firmlytogether, but without interfering with the swinging movement of the head6 around this bolt as an axis. This head 6 has a beveled face 9, cut inan arc to correspond with the arc of the periphery of the wheel, and aflange 10, disposed on the opposite side from the arm 4 and designed toconform with the curve of the flange 5 of the wheel, as will be seen byreference to Fig. 3. The arm 4 is preferably bent outward at the point11 to provide a clearance for the head 6, which, it will be noted, iswider across the face 9 than the flange of the wheel. If desired, thelever 7 may also be bent so that it can be conveniently handled from astanding posture.

In operation when the hook 1 has been slipped over the axle and the face9 of the lever-head placed against the rim of the wheel if the lever belifted firmly to move the car forward the head, by reason of its beveledface, will wedge tightly against the flange and tread of the wheel andgripping the same firmly will enable the car to be started With theminimum expenditure of energy. The advantage of applying the leverage atthis point where it will exert the greatest efiect independently of thetrack or of the deadweight of the car must be obvious, and thesimplicity and economy of our device, combined with its efiectiveness inoperation,makes it an ideal car-starter. To move the car toward you, itis only necessary to slip the book 1 from over axle 2 and reverse it, sothat it engages the axle as shown in Fig. 5, when a downward pressure onthe lever7 will cause the beveled face 9 and flange 10 of the head6 tofirmly grip the wheel and move it downward to start the car toward you.The advantages of this convertible character of our invention are of thegreatest importanceas, for instance, if the car have its brake on thenorth end and it is to be desired to start it in a northward directionour device may be applied to a wheel at the north end of the car tostart it, at which point the party can get quickly to the brake tocontrol the movement of the car. The old-fashioned starter would have tobe applied at the south end of the car to start it, after which it wouldbe necessary for the party to climb upon and run the length of the carbefore getting control of the brake, which might make it possible forthe car to get out from under control, especially if the grade be steep.At the same time it will be of great convenience in shifting a carbackward and forward for any purpose and to be able to do this with onedevice without having to move from one end to the other of the car toapply it. No sanding is necessary in connection with the application ofour starter no matter how slippery the track may be, whereas with theold devices sand is quite often needed. It is further true that ourdevice engages the wheel positively and cannot slip.

In transportation the hook 1 can be swung around on the pin 8 to a pointparallel with the lever 7 making the device compact for the purpose ofcarriage and shipment.

While we have shown the lever as engaging the flange 5 principally, itmay be adapted to engage the tread of the Wheel at any point and willoperate successfully. In this construction the flange 10 will bewidened, since it takes the strain to which the face 9 in our presentconstruction is exposed.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

In a car-starter, a hook member adapted to engage an axle, a levermember pivotally connected to said hook member and having an enlargedgripping-head, said head having a bearing-face which is cut away on oneof its vertical sides so that its cross-sectional contour correspondswith that of the wheel-flange and an adjacent tread portion, thebearingface being slightly concave to engage an extended portion of theconvex periphery of the wheel, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification inthe presence of the subscribing witnesses.

STEPHEN SMITH, J R. GEORGE S. GRIFFIN.

Witnesses as to signature of Stephen Smith, Jr.:

W. W. PATTON, J. A. MITCHELL.

IVitnesses as to signature of George S. Griffin:

Gr. 1. VVHARToN, D. D. PA'r'roN.

